You would think that I would have blogged about this on the day of the race!! There's been a lot going on and I haven't had time to do it I guess.
Well, I did it!! It was a very organized race but a hard one! It started at 7:40 in the morning and the temperature was good (only 85 degrees) but it was incredibly humid. Since I had just run the distance the week before, I knew that I could do it, but the humidity and the hills sapped me pretty good and I had to walk at one point because my legs were jello. But I finished in an official time of 1:02:48 and was runner #538 out of 1,792!! That puts me in the top third!
Abby's pretty much the only one who will take pictures with me. This is before the race!
Fun things about the race --
Just being there with so many people! It was a great crowd. There were 2 men behind me that had flown in for the race and were complaining about the heat. I had to smile a little because even though it was humid and awful, I'd been training all summer in worse, and what else do you expect? It's Texas!
Chopper and the kids went with me and had breakfast at the Arboretum and saw the pumpkins while I ran. Honestly, I was a little faster than expected but they were there, right at the finish line, when I came across and it was awesome to hear them cheering for me as I ended.
Banana flavored energy GU is gross. Although generally speaking, banana flavored anything is gross. Except bananas.
After I finished I received a finisher's medal and cap and it couldn't have been any better to actually place. The 5K's that I've run this year have involved some sporadic "training", but this is the first race since HIGH SCHOOL that I have seriously prepared for. I've been running 2-3 days a week for 16 weeks and it has pretty much been torture but the feeling after finishing and accomplishing my goal was euphoric! There's no other word for it!
AFTER!!! I look better than I feel. And I look better than I smell. I was drenched in sweat!
I ended the race with the worst blisters I've had pretty much ever so I've taken off this entire week to let them heal and try and get my shoe situation sorted it. I've also been reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It's a nonfiction piece about finding and racing against a group of Mexican Indians who are amazing runners -- ultra runners -- and he weaves in the science and biology of running with the story line. It's actually a fascinating read and I'm now itching to get out there again and go. One of the kindergarten teachers at the school saw me running one evening and we may do a race together in February. There is a series of Cow Town races in Fort Worth that would be fun. And plenty around here to choose from as well.
However, I will not be doing longer distances! At least not yet. I really feel like I'm at the limit of what I can do right now. Partly because I've just gotten back into the game and partly because running takes time! Since William doesn't love going with me in the stroller, I'm limited to evening runs. With fall coming, the evenings are getting nicer, but they are also getting darker earlier and it's hard to get in longer running times without being out in the dark -- which honestly makes me nervous. Chopper even bought me mace to take on my runs just in case!! So the plan is to keep going and do the 5Ks and make the occasional 10Ks my challenges!
Abby wanted to wear the medal of course. She said to me at one point, "Mommy, even though you're not the fastest runner, you're the fastest runner to me!" I do love how involved they were and that they could witness hard work and triumph without winning. I hope they remember that!
Chopper took some video right at the very end. I probably need to upload it to YouTube first because I seem to get better quality that way but I probably won't this time. I know the video is on Facebook and it won't print into my blog book of course. But if you want to see it better, go to Facebook!
